"If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear"

Equipment and Supplies–October 2013

Feminine Hygiene

As this is a preparedness newsletter from the Relief Society, it has been requested that feminine hygiene be discussed. A number of preparedness groups have put together lists of the first 100 products that disappear from store shelves during emergencies–feminine hygiene products (along with all other hygiene products) always make the list.

There is a growing segment of women that are changing the current practice of buying over-the-counter disposable feminine hygiene products for a number of reasons. Most of the reasoning involves cost, and environmental and health concerns. Feminine products are getting more expensive as the price goes up but the product in the box decreases. Disposable diapers and feminine products take up a lot of landfill space and do not decompose easily. Recently a number of doctors have raised concerns about the chemicals used in these products and their connection with some health problems in women.

A number of companies on the internet have started retailing reusable pads. A couple of the sites follow: www.lunapads.com and www.gladrags.com A Google search will bring up many more products. Many of the responses to these products are positive, but a caution regarding washing. Many of these are rather thick and take quite a while to dry leading to the concern that the dampness could give rise to bacterial growth within the layers of material. For this reason the pattern below is of interest. It is not as expensive because you can make it yourself and it can be taken apart for cleaning and fast drying. Check out this site: https://sites.google.com/site/shewhorunsintheforest/0011 .

The menstrual cup is a great product for some women. Again, check the internet. The Gladrags site above also answers questions regarding this type of protection.

This column cannot cover all the options available on this subject but it is important that we as women and mothers decide how we are going to prepare to handle all hygiene issues in our family. Some women will store a year supply of hygiene products which is fine, as long as they don’t have to evacuate to another location. In that case, reusable may be the way to go, less money to spend and less weight and space to store or carry.